FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT DATA - PAGE 2

[UPDATED STORY: As of 1 p.m. April 9, hours before Kickstarter's deadline, BikeSpike has reached it's goal of $150,000, allowing the project to launch. "We are flattered, truely humbled and honored to have this done in Chicago," said Clay Neigher, a member of the BikeSpike team. "We take this responsibility extremely seriously. We want to do everyone that took the lead with us proud, along with our city. "] Read the original BikeSpike story below: If someone were messing with your bike right now, you wouldn't know it until you found the broken chain on the ground near the rack.

So you have an idea for an app that uses city data, but you don't know where to go with it. Head to one of these data-driven events. > > Social Media Week, through Friday socialmediaweek.org/chicago Using data and social media to deliver better city services is one of the themes of Social Media Week, an annual series of workshops and panels about trends in social and mobile media. > > Urban Sustainability Apps Competition, Oct. 18-20 cnt.org/events/reinventing-chicago-2013-urban-sustainability-apps-competition Competitors form teams and use city and Center for Neighborhood Technology data to create apps that they present to judges.

The city has 283 datasets listed on its data portal, data.cityofchicago.org. Some of these datasets are pretty standard, from types and locations of crimes to CTA ridership. Other datasets are more intriguing. RedEye did some diving to log some of the more novel data. > > Popular fiction titles at the Chicago Public Library in July 2013 include "Fifty Shades of Grey" and "Gone Girl" > > Employee indebtedness to the city. As of Saturday, the Chicago Board of Education has 2,626 employees that owe a collective $1.48 million to the city.

With help from a $600,000 National Science Foundation grant, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago will work together with the Argonne National Laboratory to use city data to develop projects impacting Chicago's policy, design and urban planning decisions under a partnership announced last week. The collaboration, called the Urban Center for Computation and Data (UrbanCCD), brings together researchers and city officials to take advantage of the City of Chicago Data Portal, an initiative dedicated to opening government data to the public.

Problem: How can the hundreds of datasets the city releases to the public be transformed into online tools that improve the lives of residents? Solution: Collect a group of 30 to 40 young Chicagoans every Tuesday in a glass room in the Merchandise Mart to pick a city service or an issue and problem-solve a way to create apps that track these services. Some of the successful ventures born from these nights include apps that break down information about elementary school closings and locations for free flu shots.

You've heard the stoner arguments for legalizing pot: "Weed is 100 percent natural, dude. It's from the earth. Thomas Jefferson grew it, man. Thomas. Jefferson. " But lately the case for legalization and decriminalization of possession comes from entirely different camps, and they're using arguments with more finesse, research and economic impact than those tossed out at a party in your friend's smoke-filled basement. Witness the City Council, which is looking at reduced penalties for possession of amounts less than 10 grams.

Chicago on Friday surpassed 300 homicides for the year, a RedEye analysis of preliminary police data found. The city reached this mark Sept. 13 last year, RedEye data shows. Five men were shot and killed between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, according to the Tribune, pushing the city over the 300 mark. Forty-four homicides have been recorded so far this month, RedEye data, found here , shows. Last year, fifty-five homicides were logged in July, according to the same data.

Since Mayor Rahm Emmanuel took office last year, the city has increased the amount of data that it has released to the public. Enterprising software developers have taken that data and turned it into useful mobile phone applications like Plow Tracker and Buster, the CTA bus and train tracking app, but a recently launched website called openchicago.org hopes to takes the idea one step further. The social media site, which launched about two weeks ago, aims to connect local software developers with aldermen and other developers in their area to create hyperlocal neighborhood specific applications.

The Near West Side on Saturday recorded its seventh homicide of the year, a RedEye analysis of preliminary police data found. A 26-year-old man was shot to death in the 1300 block of West Washburne Avenue, police said. The community area, which includes the West Loop, University Village and the Illinois Medical District, recorded nine homicides in 2011, RedEye data shows. Citywide, gunshot homicides were logged in the last week in Austin, Chicago Lawn, Greater Grand Crossing, Morgan Park and South Shore, according to RedEye data.

Austin and Woodlawn each saw two homicides in the last week, a RedEye analysis of preliminary police data found. In Austin, a 26-year-old man was shot to death Monday in the 400 block of North Lawler Avenue, police said. A day before, a 21-year-old man was shot to death in the 5100 block of South Kinzie Street, officials said. Austin has recorded nine homicides so far this year, according to RedEye data. The West Side community area logged 30 homicides in 2011, RedEye data shows.